Sehwag became the “Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2009”

Virender Sehwag became the “Wisden Cricketer of the Year” for the 2nd time in a row, overcoming competition from England captain Andrew Strauss and Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan.

"In 2009, Sehwag broke Test cricket's sound fence by scoring at more than a run a ball," explained Wisden editor Scyld Berry.

The 31-year-old Indian opener was picked for the honour for a 2nd successive year after scoring "more quickly than any specialist batsman in Tests or one-day internationals."

Virender Sehwag also opens in Wisden's 2009 Test XI, led by his India captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a side also containing five players who featured in the 2009 Ashes.

But Australia captain Ricky Ponting, England batsman Kevin Pietersen and South Africa skipper Graeme Smith were among those 'dropped' from the Wisden XI.

This year marks the 147th edition of Wisden which has been published continuously since 1864.

Meanwhile, Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke has been named as one of the Wisden Almanack's Five Cricketers of the Year in the 2010 edition of cricket's “bible”.

The stylish batsman, 29, was Australia's leading run scorer in last year's Ashes with 448 runs at 64 but suffered the disappointment of finishing on the losing side as hosts England triumphed 2-1 in an intriguing series.

India v Bangladesh 1st Test: India win

Indian Stand-in captain Virender Sehwag lavished praise on his bowlers for the team's comprehensive 113-run win over Bangladesh in the first cricket Test here today.

Mushfiqur Rahim's First ton could not prevent defeat for Bangladesh.

Scorecard:

1st innings:

India 243 (Tendulkar 105, Sehwag 52, Shakib 5-62, Shahadat 5-71)
Bangladesh 242 (Mahmudullah 69, Zaheer 3-54, Mishra 3-66)

2nd innings:

India 413 for 8 dec. (Gambhir 116, Laxman 69, Mishra 50)
Bangladesh 301 allout (Mushfiqur 101, Tamim 52, Mishra 4-92, Ishant 3-48)

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar

Australia in New Zealand Tour 2010 Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time (GMT)	Venue
Feb 26 - Fri	New Zealand v Australia, 1st T20I	-	Wellington
Feb 28 - Sun	New Zealand v Australia, 2nd T20I	-	Christchurch
Mar 03 - Wed	New Zealand v Australia, 1st ODI	-	Napier
Mar 06 - Sat	New Zealand v Australia, 2nd ODI	-	Auckland
Mar 09 - Tue	New Zealand v Australia, 3rd ODI	-	Hamilton
Mar 11 - Thu	New Zealand v Australia, 4th ODI	-	Auckland
Mar 13 - Sat	New Zealand v Australia, 5th ODI	-	Wellington
Mar 19 - 23	New Zealand v Australia, 1st Test	-	Wellington
Mar 27 - 31	New Zealand v Australia, 2nd Test	-	Hamilton

India won’t be at No. 1 for long - Ian Chappell

They may be numerous for now but former Australian skipper Ian Chappell says India do not have the bowling strength to keep the top of International Cricket Council's Test rankings on a long-term basis.

"I don't think great teams are built on opening batting partnerships. But to me, there is a far more important thing, and this is one reason why I don't rate India as a long-term No.1, " said Chappell.

"I think you have got to have two world class bowlers in your line-up to be a long-term successful cricket team. That is where India is diminishing down at the moment," he pointed out.

Ian Chappell said Indians do not even have minimum one champion bowler in their line-up.

"When I look at the averages and the strike-rates for India in the last 12 months, I don't see two champion bowlers.

In fact, I am struggling to find one champion bowler in that line-up.

"They have got some good bowlers. Sure, they have got a very good batting line-up, but the bowling is really not good enough to see them win consistently all around the world," he said.

Out of the 20 Tests India have played in the past two years, they have won 9 tests and lost 3. Three of the wins have come against Australia but Chappell said those victory were after the Aussies lost stalwarts like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist.

"I would have thought it was a greater achievement if they had caught up with Australia while Australia was still very much a great side, rather than waiting for Australia to come back to the field," Chappell said.

"That to me has been the disappointing thing. It seems to me that the other teams have almost thrown their hands and said that it's hard to beat them, we will just wait for them to fall back and then we will catch them," he added.

South Africa in India 2010 Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time	Venue
Feb 06 - 10	India v South Africa, 1st Test	-	Nagpur
Feb 14 - 18	India v South Africa, 2nd Test	-	Kolkata
Feb 21 - Sun	India v South Africa, 1st ODI	-	Jaipur
Feb 24 - Wed	India v South Africa, 2nd ODI	-	Kanpur
Feb 27 - Sat	India v South Africa, 3rd ODI	-	Ahmedabad

India will play 2 Tests in 11 months is ridiculous

For a side which has just been coroneted world No.1 in Test cricket, it is ridiculous that India would be playing just 2 test matches in the next 11 months, feels Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott.

"I read somewhere that in the next 11 months or so India will play only about two-odd Tests. How ridiculous is that? How can you judge India's performance over the next 11 months? You can judge them over the past few months - they have played very well and I have no problem with them being number one," said Geoffrey Boycott.

He said the ICC ranking system should not be believed precise unless all the Test playing nations play each other home and away equal number of times.

"Ranking system can never be taken literally or accurately. Doesn't matter which country is at the top, because there is no fair way at the moment of all the countries playing each other the same number of times. So don't get sucked into believing that the ranking holds true for whoever is number one," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator feels the top Test playing nations, including India, play each other more frequently only to make more money.

"Top sides want to play each other because they want to make more money out of it. India, England, Australia and South Africa are going to play each other more than they do some of the other lesser nations," Boycott said.

India in Bangladesh tour 2010 Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time	Venue
Jan 17 - 21	India v Bangladesh, 1st Test	-	Chittagong
Jan 24 - 28	India v Bangladesh, 2nd Test	-	Dhaka

India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Tri-Series 2010 Schedule